Thousands of young illigal immigrants line up to apply for Presient Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program which allows young illegal immigrants to avoid deportation. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of young illegal immigrants are taking advantage of President Obama’s offer to let them stay and work in the United States.

The government said Friday it has approved 53,273 applications under the program that began in August to waive deportations of qualifying illegal immigrants who came into the country as children. Altogether, more than 300,000 have applied; requests have been coming in at a rate of 4,827 a day. Most are still under review.

Obama announced in June that he would delay deportation of many illegal immigrants under the temporary program. An overhaul of immigration laws is high on his second-term agenda.

Mexico is the main country of origin for the program’s applicants. California is their top state of residence, then Texas and New York.